Consular services (issuing of passports, identity cards, civil status changes, registrations) are provided in the Regional Consular Centre Western Balkans Pristina. For services and visa issues, please always refer to the competent representation according to the given contact.

Contact the local Swiss representative or consulate when you want to register or unregister as a resident, when you need a new pass, have moved or wish to apply for citizenship. Swiss citizens who get into difficulties abroad, also can ask for advice and help from the Swiss representative.

Albania has the lowest public health spending in the region. Many patients bypass primary health care and overcrowd hospitals, especially in larger cities. In addition, non-communicable diseases are increasing at an alarming rate. Therefore health promotion, prevention of diseases and improved primary health care services are a top priority for the country.

Albania’s economy, public finance, and debt remain areas of concern as the government tries to keep positive growth and stability in a challenging context. Although capacities for policy and financial planning have improved, there still is a need for better performance, monitoring and integrated planning. Since 2005 a group of donors including Switzerland introduced the Integrated Planning System, a tool that aids the government in strategy planning while observing budget constraints.

The Albanian Parliament will be supported to enhance the performance and professionalism of its administration and improve its representative, oversight and legislative functions. Educated citizens and engaged civil society contribute toward more accountability in decision making processes and benefit from a well-functioning parliament.

Selected municipalities in Northern Albania will be strengthened in managing local finances and improving their waste management process for offering better services to communities in enlarged territories. The learnings from the long term Swiss support will be transferred sustainably to national actors and will be embedded in regulations and standards at local and national level.

The Albanian economy has difficulties to absorb young people entering the job market. By addressing all dimensions of employment, namely labor demand, job intermediation and labor supply, RisiAlbania project will apply a comprehensive approach to reduce the high youth unemployment (28.9% in 2016). The project will facilitate private sector growth in targeted sectors, leading to creation of 2200 new jobs, by the end of 2021. lt will contribute to 3000 young people placed in jobs and 7500 youth improved their market-oriented skills.

The project "Strengthening Local Government Structures" helps municipalities in Albania to consolidate modern human resources management and leadership in local administration. lt supports the public administration reform of the Albanian Government in modernizing and depoliticizing public administration, thus complying with the requirements of the European integration agenda of the country. The Albanian School of Public Administration and the Academy of Political Studies will be strengthened as training providers for public administration.

320'000 marginalised and vulnerable population of Albania, primarily Roma and people with disabilities, will benefit from improved social services. Currently, the needs of these people are not met by the social protection system. The project supports the implementation at municipal level of the national policy framework developed with Swiss support. So, the entire population will benefit from equal and dignified access to services and resources.

Municipal administrations in all 61 municipalities in Albania will be supported to effectively manage service delivery based on the citizens’ needs. Municipal councils will be enabled to better represent citizens’ interests and ensure that public resources are well managed. Setting up a reliable and up-to-date local statistical system will allow an informed decision making. Through these improvements, citizens will benefit from better services such as waste and pre-school education and will actively be involved in local issues.

Civic engagement in Albania is low. The relationship between citizens and local authorities is still not based on accountability, transparency and participation. Corruption is pervasive while checks and balances are weak and under utilised.

The Multi-Country Investment Climate Program (MCICP) supports investment climate reform advisory in a total of 20 SECO partner countries. It is implemented by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a globally recognized leader in this field.

SECO is supporting the Region of Berat in Albania including its municipalities Berat, Kuçovë, Poliçan, Skrapar and Ura Vajgurore, in improving quality, reliability and sustainability of its solid waste management (SWM) services. The support encompasses capacity development, technical assistance and Short Term SWM Measures.

This project aims at developing and strengthening the public accounting framework in Albania in order to improve transparency and budget allocation. The direct beneficiaries of the project are the Ministry of Finance as well as other budget institutions at central level. The project will be implemented by the World Bank.